FRCE Commanding Officer Col. Thomas A. Atkinson greeted Gaskin and led the secretary and official party, including leadership from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, on a quick tour that included stops to meet with many former service members who work at the depot. Gaskin visited FRCE as part of a larger engagement with Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and the station’s tenant organizations, including FRCE and Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point.
“It was an honor to show our talented workforce and our part of our facility to Secretary Gaskin and his staff. Our teammates found him very engaging and they appreciated having the opportunity to meet him,” Atkinson said. “With our large veteran workforce, I think Secretary Gaskin walked away impressed with our close connection to the warfighter and the tremendous pride we take in supporting them.”
Gaskin, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general, said this visit to FRCE was his first in his official capacity as secretary, but he had been to the depot many times as commanding general of various Marine units, including the 2nd Marine Division and II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).
The operations at FRCE never fail to impress, Gaskin said.
“Fleet Readiness Center East is an amazing asset to North Carolina in terms of economic impact and employment opportunities, and I wanted to bring my team in today to connect the dots,” Gaskin said. “I wanted to put faces to those numbers and meet the people who help support the mission, including veterans who seek to remain in North Carolina after honoring their commitment to the nation.
“These are exactly the type of great-paying jobs we need to see to make the state an economically viable place to live, start a family and send them to school,” he continued. “It’s important for North Carolina to recognize the contributions of places like Fleet Readiness Center East and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, including offering jobs and economic opportunities to those who served and have chosen to stay and make North Carolina their home.”
During the tour, Gaskin stopped to speak with pneudraulics system mechanic Fred Dawkins, an Air Force veteran who has given more than 65 years of federal service. Dawkins began work at FRCE in 1995 after relocating from Naval Air Station Alameda, California, where he worked first as a contractor and then as a civilian after retiring from the U.S. Air Force following 26 years of active-duty service.
“Congratulations, and thank you for all of the service you have provided to the Marine Corps, the nation and the state of North Carolina,” Gaskin said as he presented Dawkins with a challenge coin.
The group continued with a walkthrough of FRCE’s V-22 Osprey aircraft line, where Gaskin was greeted by Andrew Rock, FRCE V-22 branch head and former Marine, and several more veterans who work on the line. The tour concluded with a stop at the manufacturing machine shop, where participants were able to view a work in progress on one of the shop’s high-tech milling machines, and also see an example of the finished project.
FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot generates combat air power for America’s Marines and naval forces while serving as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.